Cultural Engagement, Youth Development, and the Arts

The Foundation has had a longstanding interest in the arts, reflecting Benjamin Altman’s personal commitment and our belief in the essential role that cultural engagement and the arts play in enriching the lives of New Yorkers and creating new avenues of exploration and opportunity for the city’s young people. Given our particular focus on issues of access and inclusion, the Foundation invests in organizations, programs, and projects that achieve results aligned with the objectives outlined below. As a general rule, the programs that we support take place outside of the public schools. Please note that the "Results Sought" reflect the specific outcomes of interest to us.

Promote positive youth development among underserved youth through engagement in arts, cultural, and other unique programs that provide sequential opportunities to participate over an extended period of time.

2017 Grants

Ballet Tech Foundation, Inc.$30,000To help support citywide auditions for public elementary school children and provide tuition-free ballet training, from beginner to pre-professional level, for students from underserved backgrounds

Beam Center Inc.$50,000To help support the expansion of the BeamWorks Youth Apprentices program

Brooklyn Botanic Garden Corporation$100,000 (over two years)To help support the Garden Apprentice Program (GAP) over two years as it works to achieve youth development goals, integrate a new College Prep program, and introduce program improvements

Center for Family Life in Sunset Park$50,000To help support the positive growth and development of underserved youth in Sunset Park through the acquisition of pre-professional arts skills in Life Lines Community Arts Project

Figure Skating in Harlem, Inc.$120,000 (over two years)To support academic, leadership, and skating programs for low-income New York City girls over two years, and to help achieve capacity-building goals in fundraising and operations in the second phase of the grant period

Groundswell Community Mural Project, Inc.$50,000To underwrite the afterschool programs and summer intensives, which provide youth the opportunity to create public art within their communities and develop 21st-century Skills, and to help support the completion of a strategic plan

Harlem RBI, Inc. dba DREAM$150,000 (over two years)To help ensure that out-of-school programs in East Harlem and the South Bronx continue to provide academic support and college access services to elementary, middle school, high school, and college students

New Heights Youth, Inc.$40,000To help support College Bound, a year-round high school and college preparatory program serving student-athletes in grades 4-12, and Career Assist, a college completion initiative

Publicolor, Inc.$90,000 (over two years) To help support the COLOR Club, Next Steps, and Summer Design Studio programs

Rocking the Boat, Inc.$100,000 (over two years)To provide general operating support for this youth development organization that offers dynamic educational activities to middle school, high school, and college-aged young people and their communities in the South Bronx

Roundabout Theatre Company, Inc.$100,000 (over two years)To help create pathways for young adults into technical theatre training, professional mentorships, and employment